Incidence rates of admissions associated with alcohol withdrawal syndrome in Spain: Analysis of minimum basic data set 1999–2010

Abstract Background There are no data on the incidence of admissions associated with alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) or about its trend over time in Spain. Objective To analyze the characteristics, incidence rates and trends over time of hospital admissions associated with AWS in Spanish public hospitals. Material and method Analysis from the Spanish public hospitals minimum basic data set of hospital admissions with AWS (CIE9-MC 291.81), alcohol withdrawal delirium (CIE9-MC 291.0) and alcohol withdrawal hallucinosis (CIE9-MC 291.3), since 1999 to 2010. Results We identified 56,395 admissions associated with AWS. Mean age was 50.9 (SD 12.5) and 88% were male. The most frequent admission department was Internal Medicine (24.9%). The mean hospital stay was 12.6 days (SD 14.4) and mortality was 4.7%; 62.6% of cases developed AWS during an admission for another reason, mostly due to alcohol-related pathologies. Secondary diagnoses in patients hospitalized for AWS were related to alcohol consumption in more than half of the cases. The incidence rate of admissions associated with AWS in Spain remained stable from 1999 to 2010, with a small decline in the last 3 years of the period. The communities with the highest incidence were the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands and Galicia. Conclusions The incidence rate of admissions associated with AWS in Spanish public hospitals in the period 1999–2010 has remained stable with slight changes. There are differences in the incidence of AWS among the different autonomous communities.